ISS Minor Becomes Internationally Certified Program

The Intelligence and Security Studies minor at the University of Mississippi is officially an internationally certified program.
The UM minor is the first program to receive certification from the International Association for Intelligence Education, or IAFIE. The endorsement helps CISS remain a leader at the forefront of intelligence education.
Following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, U.S. intelligence agencies sought ways to improve the critical task of analysis. As part of this effort, the UM School of Applied Sciences created the CISS to train students for careers in intelligence analysis and provide educational and scholarly resources to the national intelligence community.
IAFIE’s decision to certify the CISS minor is a validation of the hard work faculty and staff have done building the program over the last six years, said Carl Jensen, the center’s director.
“We have sought this IAFIE certification since the first day it was offered,” Jensen said. “Being the first program to receive it is an incredibly rewarding experience.”
IAFIE certification required meeting 32 standards, including intelligence history, organizations, planning, collection, analysis, counterintelligence and security. The organization has more than 230 member institutions and agencies.
“These days, we have a steady stream of students from all over the country visiting the center,” said Melissa Graves, associate director and instructor of the center. “Having this certification allows us to provide evidence that people from within the intelligence community and academe have reviewed our program inside and out and concluded that we meet their rigorous standards.”
The IAFIE certification further enhances the minor’s appeal to potential students, UM Provost Morris Stocks said.
“The Intelligence and Security Studies minor is one of the premier programs offered at the University of Mississippi,” he said. “Students have come to Ole Miss from across the country to become part of this important program.”
Formed in 2003, IAFIE has become the organization generally recognized for advancing the interests of intelligence educators. IAFIE began as the brainchild of Bob Heibel, founder of the intelligence studies program at Mercyhurst College in 1992. Heibel saw the need for an organization that could bring together intelligence educators from around the country and the world.
For more information about CISS, visit the program’s website. For more about IAFIE, visit their website.
Courtesy of Ole Miss News Desk